Joshua 6:23; And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel

The United States Code Title 18, Part I Chapter 115 defines treason as follows:

“Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States”

“The full resources of the Justice Department will be devoted to ensuring that those persons who would betray their country and the people of the United States are prosecuted and severely punished.”-The United States Attorney commenting on the Robert Hanssen case.

What motivates people to turn against their country? “Treason” is a terrifying word. Any time it is invoked, a person has either successfully or attempted to sell out the United States to the highest bidder. Treason is also one of the very few crimes on the Federal books that carry the death penalty without having to prove that the crime actually resulting in death. So why do traitors turn when they are facing death?

I was able to speak with an current FBI agent who has worked on the intelligence side. He wishes to remain anonymous. He stated that most traitors turn for the following reasons:

• Money
• Ideology (Political or religious)
• Sex / Drugs other dependencies

In the years since the Robert Hanssen case, it has been business as usual for those selling out our country both intentionally and unwittingly for the above reasons.

Robert Hanssen is considered the most damaging traitor in terms of lives, intelligence lost and dollars to repair the damage done to national security. That is quite a title in the company of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Aldrich Ames and Benedict Arnold. His case was dramatized in the move Breach. Hanssen consistently passed critical intelligence information on to the Soviets over 20 years. He divulged information such as Soviet double agents(resulting in their execution) and the United States continuity of government plan in case of nuclear attack. Hanssen was spared the death sentence in exchange for his cooperation in undoing the damage he did. He is currently serving his life sentence at the Federal Supermax facility in Florence Colorado.

Has everything we learned since Hanssen prevented further “megaton” breaches in national security? There is no question that counter Intelligence spending has increased dramatically post Hansen and post-Iraq War including the establishment of the Counter Intelligence Center. It was mistakenly revealed that in 2005 the United States spent 40 billion dollars on its’ spy agencies. It is awfully quiet out there. You would hope we have successfully “whack a moled” most Russian plants and disaffected government agents. They however are popping up where you would expect. They are coming from countries with who we have direct military animus and those who want to be on our technological level without having to work for it.

Gregg William Bergersen was just this week sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to disclose national defense information to persons not entitled to receive it. Bergersen was a Weapons Systems Policy Analyst at the Arlington, Va.-based Defense Security Cooperation Agency, an agency within the Department of Defense. While in this position, Bergersen provided national defense information on numerous occasions to Tai Shen Kuo, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a New Orleans businessman. Much of the information pertained to U.S. military sales to Taiwan and was classified at the Secret level. Mr Kuo in return provided Bergersen with money, gifts and trips to Vegas. Tai Shen Kuo is facing life in prison when he is sentenced. The Bergersen case highlights the continuing tension with China with regards to their aggressive efforts to obtain United States military and technology data. This case was one of the more serious cases of espionage since Robert Hanssen. Interestingly, his handlers ran what intelligence professionals call a “false flag” operation. They made him believe that the information he was providing was going to Taiwan, an American ally.

In the end, the true motivation was far less altruistic. It was the second oldest temptation. Like 90 percent of the espionage cases that came before him, it was all about money. Mr. Kuo promised Bergersen that he would make him as a partner at 400k per year in a defense consulting firm after he retired from the Pentagon. This was in addition to the gifts and Vegas trips.

While the Bergersen case was a case of a planned attempt at espionage by the Chinese government, many more of these cases are in the Grey zone between breaches of national security and commercial espionage by the Chinese and other governments to gain a technology advantage. An article in the New York Times highlights the concern the United States government has over very aggressive Chinese efforts to obtain classified information by conventional and unconventional means probing for openings at the lowest levels in areas we would never expect in the hopes that it will lead to the locations of weakness in our commercial and government intelligence defense systems. The FBI recently investigated and obtained its first conviction under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. Xiaodong Sheldon Men, a software engineer born in China was sentenced to 24 months in prison for stealing a military source code from his employer and attempting to transfer it and other military technology he took to the Chinese Government.

In addition to China, the Middle East will undoubtedly be a fertile recruiting ground for moles, double agents and infiltrators. The Middle East scenario has already reared its ugly “two face” in the name of Nada Nadine Prouty, a former FBI agent who plead guilty(video) in November 2007 to fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship and improperly accessing sensitive computer information about Hezbollah. Prior to her resignation she was a CIA spy assigned to Middle East operations. According to Newsweek, Prouty was also related by blood to a suspected Hezbollah money launderer. The FBI has sated that that there is no evidence that Prouty passed on sensitive information to an foreign government or terrorist organization. She will spend up to a year in Federal prison. If an illegal alien can obtain top secret employment and penetrate to the most sensitive areas of our intelligence agencies should we be worried?

Ironically one of the most recent arrests of an accused traitor involved the Middle East but not with one of our enemies. Ben-ami Kadish a former U.S. Army mechanical enginee, was arrested in April 2008 and charged with four counts of conspiracy. The charges allege that Kadish passed classified documents to the government of Israel during the 1980s. His alleged spy activities have been linked to convicted spy Jonathan Pollard who also passed secrets on to Israel.

Moral of story? Old spies never die, they just blend into the masses. The other moral? When it comes to money and national security love is fleeting….

©2008 Brian Cuban